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Bourjois celebrates its 150th birthday
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#yt:fBRvrTKwYDM This years, this cosmetic brand celebrates its 150th birthday. LiveCoiffure.com wants to mark the occasion by coming back on the brand history.
A brand born in the art scene
In 1863, the actor Joseph-Albert Ponsin created in his apartment make-up and perfumes for theatre actors and actress. Is in this “make-up factory for theatre and city” that he designed the baked male-up specific process : the famous little round pot was born. The actor/cosmetologist's cosmetic palette broadened rapidly and brought him success that extended beyond the circle of actors and actresses. His title of "Supplier for the Theatre" became "Special Manufacturer of Products for Feminine Beauty". The Bourjois company was really founded in 1868, when Ponsin let Alexandre-Napoléon Bourjois take back the entire activity. Eleven years later, Bourjois launched Java rice powder, that was designed to lighten skin and leave it silky-soft. A fashion was born :women adopted this idea immediately and Bourjois then extended to the mass market in many countries. In 1897, it sold two million boxes of Java rice powder worldwide.An endless catalogue
In 1898, the Bourjois catalogue was over 700 cosmetics references : make-up for cheeks, for eyelids, rice powders, polishes, lipsticks and Indian tablets (that were the ancestors of mascara), as well as "perfume extracts for the handkerchief," "perfumed sachets to put inside slippers," toothpastes, hair lotions, a "Hungarian pomade" to help arrange a gentleman's moustache...The offer of beauty products was extremely broad. In 1924, Bourjois became also perfumer with “Mon Parfum”. However, it is the fragrance “Soir de Paris”, designed by Ernest Beaux in 1928 that was extremely successful, because, the luxury of the bourgeoisie became accessible to the middle classes that developed in the thirties.Bourjois, the Ladies's friend
“Ladies' Friend” was the name of a very practical make-up kit created in 1890: it included a small midnight blue cylindrical box containing lipstick, powder, a puff and eye Kohl. Bourjois also designed an ultra-thin version so that costumers can take it with them anywhere they go. Those sizes made the brand forerunner of the “mini”. During the 1930's, when women demanded independence and a new identity with the "tomboy" look (Antoine de Paris), Bourjois supported them. In 1936, the brand evoked women's right to vote through one of its campaign. They were given that right nine years later. Bourjois is also an avant-gardist in marketing with its “story-telling”, that consists in telling stories to sell products. Babette, an elegant and imaginary Parisian character, represented the brand during six years, and then became its ambassador.150 years of beauty
Today, Bourjois it's beautiful products, handy and accessible to everyone. The catalogue is endless and the range of products is wide. And for the collectors who melt before the little round pot, Bourjois restyles regularly vintage series !Photos source: Bourjois
Laureline Siguret for LiveCoiffure.com -
